Article educates our enemies

For all the lip service the U.S. government puts on Operational Security (OPSEC), I was speechless after reading the front-page (Mideast and Europe editions) article on Camp Lemonnier (“Djibouti at center of covert US drone war,” Oct. 27). Why does anyone outside of the Pentagon or the local base commanders need to know the exact number of Special Operation troops residing on base, the numbers of drones on the ground or that special operations are coordinated in a high-security compound on base? I would think that detailing how U.S. troops and civilians help with humanitarian aid and train foreign militaries would be all that is necessary to mention about the mission of the camp.

In different trips to Afghanistan I learned that a lot of the incoming missiles we took on a daily basis were directed at the drones themselves or the people who operated them because of the effectiveness of the drones in taking out top Taliban and al-Qaida leaders. After reading this article, every terrorist group and “lone wolf” in the region will be more aware of just exactly what this base is designed for and what its purpose is. I can’t imagine that U.S. troops providing humanitarian assistance in the field now feel any safer.

After reading this gross violation of intelligence, the “secrecy that blankets most of the camp’s activities” has now been taken off for all to see.